If he had expected to shock her he was disappointed. She nodded slightly. “I know that also, Mr. Gilder,” she said. “I hope you haven’t made this long journey to tell me this?” For a second he was staggered. He had expected his announcement to be the first of two tremendous sensations; she saw the disappointment in his face and could have smiled. “There is another matter,” he said, recovering himself, “which does not directly affect you. Your brother administered the estate of the late Lady Chelford, in the sense that he had in his charge stocks and bonds to the value of fifty-one thousand pounds. That is quite usual in an old-fashioned lawyer’s business, but to-day of course the stocks would be in the hands of the bank, and the dividends automatically credited.” Her heart nearly stopped beating. He saw the colour fade from her face and was very sure of himself. “My brother has--that money?” she said. “He _had_ it.” He emphasized the word. “I understand that the present Lord Chelford is changing his lawyers, and in a week’s time those stocks are to be handed over to another firm.” She was speechless, knowing that he was telling the truth, understanding only too well just all that this narrative implied. “Fifty thousand pounds is a lot of money,” Gilder went on suavely; “a very difficult sum to raise in a week. And in a week that money must be in your brother’s hands.” She raised her eyes, and, seeing the pain in them, he was almost sorry for her. “You mean--that the money--that Arthur hasn’t those stocks to transfer?” He nodded. “Are you sure of this?” “Absolutely sure.” A long silence, when the ticking of the little French clock came so loudly to their ears that instinctively both glanced at the mantelpiece together. “Why do you tell me all this?” He cleared his voice. “A few days ago I told you, rather uncouthly, I am afraid, that I loved you,” he said. “You may not credit me with the--the affectionate reverence I have for you--but I love you! There is nothing in the world I would not do for you, no price that I would not pay.” Her eyes did not waver; she seemed to be reading his very soul. “Even to the extent of providing fifty thousand pounds in a week?” she said in a low voice. “Even to that extent,” he answered. She rose slowly to her feet. “Will you write down your address?” So calm was her voice that she might have been discussing an ordinary matter of business. “I know where you live, but I have forgotten the name of the building and the number.” He wrote it down with an unsteady hand and left the paper where she had placed it. “I must know to-morrow,” he said, “yes or no.” She dropped her head. “You shall know to-morrow,” she said. “If I tell you I will marry you, you can make the arrangement about the money--I will not fail you.”